Gas turbine engines, such as those that power modern commercial and military aircraft, may include a fan section to propel the aircraft, a compressor section to pressurize a supply of air from the fan section, a combustor section to burn fuel in the presence of the pressurized air, and a turbine section to extract energy from the resultant combustion gases and to generate thrust.
The compressor section and turbine section each have multiple stages of rotors that rotate about a central axis and multiple stages of stators that are stationary relative to the central axis. It is desirable to reduce fluid leakage between the stages of rotors and stators. Bellows seals, or “W seals,” are frequently used to reduce fluid leakage between the stages of rotors and stators.
Bellows seals may be used in portions of the gas turbine engine that experience relatively high temperatures and it is therefore desirable for the bellows seals to have a relatively high temperature capability. Furthermore, because the bellows seals are used between components that may move relative to each other, it is desirable for the bellows seals to have relatively high yield strength. Additionally, because the components surrounding the bellows seal may move relative to the bellows seal during operation, it is desirable for the bellows seal to have relatively high wear resistance.